My Grandfather's Gift

My Grandfather was not a wealthy man but he worked hard his whole life. He grew up during the Depression when everyone did whatever they could, he worked up until he was eighty-five years young. He was thrifty but still generous.

He was the best man I have ever known. My favorite memories are going to his "solitary property" with him. It was a parcel of land that he owned. Once a month we would go there, plant a tree and just explore. He was full of knowledge about the trees, most were labeled with a species and date. I thought he had to have done a lot of research to name them all.

I will miss that all now that he is gone!

When his will was read it was simple. Everything went to my Grandmother to do with as she saw fit. Or so I thought. Apparently, there was a side note, about the property, that was just between him and his lawyer, i found out about two months after his funeral when I received a birthday gift from him.

It was a small package, wrapped in brown paper. Inside was a little black book. The cover was worn from being handled, there was a dark line that ran from top to bottom where the original strap had laid across it before it broke from wear. It was now tied together with a piece of twine. It looked like a book I thought I had seen in my Grandfather's glove box but never knew what it was for.

Inside the front cover was an envelope with, "To the only girl to share my solitude". The short note was obviously written not long ago in his shaky handwriting. Probably, last year when he stopped going to the property, the terrain was too much for his 93 year old legs.

"Sandi,

I know you are the only one that truly appreciated my solitude property as much as I do, so it is yours. Mr. Lewis will take care of all the paperwork. As you know every month we planted a different tree around the property. The book maps each one of them out. What you don't know is that I also buried little surprises by each one. So you have your own personal treasure hunt. When you have collected them you can do whatever you want with the prize. Your Grandmother knows you get the land but that is all. No one needs to know more if you don't want them too.

Love you with all that I was,

Gramps"

I cried! I always felt we had a special connection but figured it was just me looking for one somewhere. No man ever has or ever will measure up to him.

It's February now, so my hunt will wait until spring. I flipped through the book. Each mapped area had written pages to go along with it. The first page was dated, March 1985. "I saw this black maple yesterday and had to have it as my first planting on the treeless field."

I don't remember it ever being empty but I was six when he planted the first tree. Just with his plantings that's over 400 trees. I love that space, everything is getting less green and it has only gotten greener.

The first map was simple. It showed the whole property split into sections. Each map after is only the section he planted in. He did duplicate some trees but in different sections.

Spring finally arrived. My oldest kid and I went on our field trip, just me, her and our shovels. We decided to start with the first black maple. It took a little but we found a small coffee can. Inside was a bunch of change. The can was hefty, so my guess is that this was a hunt for Gramp's pocket change.

At the end of the afternoon, we had unearthed 10 cans. We took them home and discovered not all of it was change. Some were change, some had bills and change and some just bills. My guess is after is that after a while change became too heavy to lug around the property. Our one day total was over $300.

As the total grew we began to make plans for it. An account was opened to pay the taxes with. Each of my girls were given money to put towards buying a house. I also made donations to charities that meant something to both my grandfather and myself.

This whole amazing journey made me really think about things He had given me two unbelievable gifts whether he realized it or not. So I decided that once we found everything he left behind I would start the tradition over again and hand it down to my own grandchild.